The first official trailer for Logan was a major hint of what to expect in Hugh Jackman’s final Wolverine movie. The gritty tone and emotional themes made a huge impact on the internet, but they were nothing compared to the violent r-rated action teased in this final trailer. As promised 20th Century Fox has released an awesome new trailer, revealing more story and even more epic violence. The trailer (below) also makes it pretty clear that X-23 isn’t someone you would want to mess with.
The trailer narrated by Patrick Stewart’s Professor X continues to promise that Hugh Jackman’s final Wolverine movie will be a bloody heartbreaking event.
SYNOPSIS: In the near future, a weary Wolverine cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.
Starring Hugh Jackman (Logan), Boyd Holbrook (Donald Pierce), Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Dafne Keen (Laura Kinney/X-23), Doris Morgado (Maria), Stephen Merchant (Caliban), Elizabeth Rodriguez (Gabriela), and Richard E. Grant (Dr. Zander Rice). James Mangold is directing and helped on the screenplay along with Scott Frank and Michael Green.
It’s Morphin Time! An awesome new trailer has been released for the upcoming Power Rangers movie. Released by Lionsgate the trailer offers a first look at Zordon, a gigantic Goldar and of course the Zords.
After watching this trailer (below), one thing is pretty clear, we should all be excited to see this film. It definitely looks like the creators are going for a darker, science fiction kind of film and it seems to be working. Even if you aren’t a fan of the old series and movies you can’t deny that these trailers are showing some pretty cool material.
Check out the awesome new trailer below!
SABAN’S POWER RANGERS follows five ordinary teens who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove — and the world — is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so, they will have to overcome their real-life issues and before it’s too late, band together as the Power Rangers.
Starring Naomi Scott, Dacre Montgomery, Elizabeth Banks, Ludi Lin, Becky G, RJ Cyler, and Bryan Cranson, Power Rangers Lands In Theaters On March 24, 2017.
Ahead of today’s new trailer, an amazing image has been released for Hugh Jackman’s final Wolverine movie, Logan. The image shows the title character standing in the rain, seemingly from the funeral scene shown in the first trailer.
The interesting thing about this image is that it looks like a screen capture from the film itself. Previous images have been production stills while this appears to be a shot from the new trailer. Either way, it’s a cool new look at Jackman’s older Wolverine, one that will hopefully get you through the day until the second trailer drops.
Official synopsis: “In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.”
Logan stars Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/ Logan, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, Dafnee Keen as Laura Kinney/X-23, Boyd Holbrook as Donald Pierce, Doris Morgado as Maria, Richard E. Grant as Dr. Zander Rice, Stephen Merchant as Caliban, Elizabeth Rodriguez as Gabriela, and others. Click here for the full cast list.
After the WWE’s “Then, Now, and Forever” One-Shot, the ongoing series begins! The one-shot was a good way to show just what BOOM’s new line of WWE comics would be like. The first story is a great one for sure, the Rise of The Architect of The Shield, Seth Rollins joining The Authority. As the one-shot set up the betrayal of Seth Rollins to The Shield, now get to see the aftermath of that. It’s a clever way to fans a different look into past WWE stories. As strong as the one-shot was, I was curious to see how the ongoing would fare. Time to see together just how the new series of WWE comics fares. Let us remember the rumble as we go forth in this review of WWE #1.
It doesn’t hurt that WWE #1 starts with one of the best recent WWE stories, The Aftermath of the Destruction of The Shield.
One of the best aspects of WWE #1 is the fact that Dennis Hopeless dives into the desire of Seth Rollins. If you’re a fan of WWE, think of this as a new look into a now legendary WWE storyline. It’s a story of pure ambition and determination, from the point of view of Seth Rollins. I commend Hopeless for that, laser focusing on Seth Rollins and telling his tale from his point of view works. In a way, it helps as a cool little primer on The Shield as WWE Superstars and characters in their own right. It’s written in such a way that while you think you know what happened, you don’t know everything. Nicely done there, Hopeless.
Here’s what’s weird: I didn’t fully get into the Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns conflict in the comic. It doesn’t translate as well, and some of the interactions ring a bit hollow on the page. I will say without spoiling much, the interactions with Triple H in the story are gold. Even better, there’s another appearance that works well in the story but I don’t want to share spoilers. I have to say despite some quibbles, Hopeless does well in capturing the full scope of the WWE Universe of Superstars.
I must make a point to mention The New Day back-up. I would be making this world a less positive place if I dare missed it.
I do want to mention The New Day story here, that two-page comic is delightful and wonderfully weird. It continues from the last issue as The New Day has gone back in time on an Optimistic Odyssey. It’s only two pages but it is fun. Ross Thibodeaux is having a blast with the characters and embracing the joy that is Prehistoric Ric Flair. Rob Guillory’s art is amazing capturing the mad ideas of Thibodeaux with brilliant expressions and energy. The bright colors of Taylor Wells are a plus too, they are radiant in positivity. It’s two pages and the perfect way to cap off this issue.
The art in the main WWE story works well for it, really well actually.
Hopeless does well with capturing the balancing act of the backstage and ring battles of the WWE overall, but it helps that he has a good artist. Serg Acuna is a solid fit for this adventure into the WWE Universe. It’s interesting to me, where Acuna excels art wise is in the backstage segments and beginning and ends of the matches in the story. The art doesn’t look as strong in the matches at points in the story. Yet Acuna is one of the better artists I have seen with handling the WWE Universe. I love the way Acuna captures the joy on Seth’s face in the midst of his victories, it’s perfect. There’s a lot of strong expression and storytelling here but his work with Seth, spot on. Hopeless has a great artist to match his vision for this tale.
I take special notice of the coloring in the main story too. Doug Garbark is solid throughout the story, but the beginning where I like how it really comes together. There’s a Money in the Bank segment at the start and you have money green in the audience. The victor is glowing from the light and you see the green behind him, it’s fitting and wonderful for this scene. Take note of that when you check out this book, it works well. Take note of the lettering in this book too, Jim Campbell is great in both this and the backup tale. Special note is the Sploosh effect in the water, I love the lettering there and the font choice, it’s too cool.
Now it is time for the wrap-up to this WWE Comic adventure.
Here’s one thing to note, if you’re not a WWE fan you may not get a lot out of this. That being said if you’re curious about WWE and aspects of the product, I say give this a shot. If you’re already a fan, I can recommend it fairly easily. It’s not perfect, but for the most part, it is fun. It’s one of the better WWE comics I have seen in a long time and I look forward to seeing how it develops in the months to come.
M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most polarizing directors in the business today, so how did his latest film ‘Split’ do under the critical breakdown of our dynamic duo?
On the second half of the show, movie critic Dewey Singleton and Matt Sardo interview Ice Cube about his next film ‘Fist Fight,’ and we close out the show with a conversation with ‘Goonies’ legend Sean Astin.
Ice Cube interview at 45:20
Sean Astin interview at 54:23
Strap yourself in buckaroos! Episode 107 of the Monkeys Fighting Robots podcast is here.
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About the Monkeys Fighting Robots Podcast:
A Gen Xer and a Millennial debate the latest topics in pop culture. One guy is a filmmaker and the other is a journalist, but both are nerds. We make your slowest days at work better. Hosts, Matthew Sardo and EJ Moreno.
Never heard of Matt Sardo? For starters, he made the Kessel Run in less than 11 parsecs. Prior to that, he gave Doc Brown the idea for the flux capacitor and led the Resistance to victory over SkyNet – all while sipping a finely crafted IPA. As a radio host, he’s interviewed celebrities, athletes and everyone in between. He’s covered everything from the Super Bowl to Comic-Con.
Who is EJ Moreno? Is he a trained physician? No. Is he a former Miss Universe contestant? Possibly. But what we know for sure is he’s a writer, filmmaker, and pop culture enthusiast. Since film school, EJ has written & directed several short films. He’s used his passion of filmmaking to become a movie critic for MonkeysFightingRobots.com.
The marketing for this film has been spot-on. Considering that there’s only been one trailer thus far, Logan has drawn a significant following based heavily upon photos released.
What do you expect to see in tommorow’s trailer? Will we see more emphasis put on the story and characters like the first, or will the action take over be the main draw? And more imporantly, will we get another kickass Johnny Cash song stuck in our heads for weeks? All this will be revealed tomorrow, January 19.
Official synopsis: “In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.” Logan stars Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/ Logan, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, Dafnee Keen as Laura Kinney/X-23, Boyd Holbrook as Donald Pierce, Doris Morgado as Maria, Richard E. Grant as Dr. Zander Rice, Stephen Merchant as Caliban, Elizabeth Rodriguez as Gabriela, and others. Click here for the full cast list. The film hits theaters on March 3.
AMC has released a new trailer for season two of its science fiction drama Humans.
The series features humanoid robots known as “synths,” which have been integrated into society. It explores the impact these inventions have on society, especially when they begin an “awakening.”
The eight-episode season, which debuted last fall in the UK, picks up where season one left off.
Carrie-Ann Moss joins the cast for the new season as Dr. Athena Morrow, an AI expert. Other new additions include Sam Palladio (Nashville), Marshall Allman (True Blood), Sonya Cassidy (Olympus), Bella Dayne (The Man in the High Castle) and Letitia Wright (Black Panther).
Writers Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley adapted Humans from the award-winning Swedish sci-fi drama Real Humans. Following its UK debut in 2015, Humans quickly became one of Channel 4’s highest-rated dramas.
Season two of Humans premieres February 13 at 10 p.m. on AMC.
About Humans Season 2:
The second season picks up several months after the events of Season 1 with Niska still at large and in possession of the consciousness code. Her Synth family, Mia, Leo and Max, unaware of her location, are each trying to find their place in the world, while Joe and Laura attempt to mend their marriage.
Humans stars Gemma Chan, Emily Berrington, Colin Morgan, Ivanno Jeremiah, Katherine Parkinson and Tom Goodman-Hill.
The series is a partnership between AMC, the UK’s Channel 4 and Kudos.
Watch the new trailer titled The Next Big Leap below.
Last week I highlighted the classic action movies that released in 1987. It was a busy year for horror too. The 80s were a grand time for all things gory, and in 1987, supplies of fake blood were in high demand. For most of the decade, Slashers like Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees ruled, but in 1987, Freddy was the only slasher to make an appearance. The year is marked by a diverse range of styles from a western vampire story to slapstick gore, a new 80s horror icon, and more. And not only did horror these films scare their way across cinema screens, they served as a stepping point for several actors and a few future Oscar-winning directors.
Lost Boys
“Don’t kill me, Mike. I’m basically a good kid.”
Before vampires shimmered in sunlight and were relegated to having crushes on high school girls there was Lost Boys. Joel Schumacher, the man who put nipples on Batman, is very hit or miss. But when you’ve got Keifer Sutherland as an 80s punk inspired bloodthirsty vampire it’s hard to miss. Lost Boys drips in 80s attitude while also being silly at times through characters played by Corey Feldman and Corey Haim.
Hellraiser
“Your suffering will be legendary, even in hell.”
Artist, writer and director Clive Barker made his directorial debut with Hellraiser which introduced one of horror’s most iconic villains — Pinhead. Hellraiser is gory, HP Lovecraft-inspired horror that’s a little rough today but still unleashes some brutal effects and mind-bending concepts about alternate dimensions and realities.
Near Dark
“It ain’t what’s goin’ on, son. It’s what’s comin’ off. Your face. Clean off.”
Director Kathryn Bigelow is critically-acclaimed today, but her rise to Hollywood fame started in earnest with the gritty horror flick Near Dark. A vampire film unlike few others, Near Dark, is dirty and bloody visual poetry that’s part western, part biker movie. Bill Paxton as a psycho, bloodthirsty vamp steals each and every scene. And hey, there’s a cameo by James Cameron!
Evil Dead 2
“Groovy.”
After the massive cult success of Evil Dead, Director Sam Raimi was pressed to make a sequel. The result is Evil Dead 2 which is a sequel or a remake, depending on how you want to look at it. The same slapstick craziness of the first movie is just as prominent here, and it’s a virtuoso of gore. Some are purests, but in almost every way, Evil Dead 2 is a better version of the original film.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 3
“You’re mine now, piggy.”
The most iconic horror villain of the 80s, and arguably of all time, Freddy Kreuger’s third appearance took the series to new places. Freddy haunts the dreams of teens, but now those teens learn how to fight back with the help of Nancy, the protagonist of the first A Nightmare On Elm Street. Series creator Wes Craven returned as a writer after skipping involvement with the previous installment.
Prince of Darkness
“I’ve got a message for you, and you’re not going to like it. Pray for death.”
The second in John Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy,” Prince of Darkness is also the weakest. Where The Thing is isolated and paranoid, and Mouth of Madness is a surrealistic nightmare, Prince of Darkness feels trapped between Carpenter’s more subtle and slow style and Carpenter trying to appeal a little more to the norms of horror at the time.
The Gate
“Demons aren’t going to ring the doorbell!”
Actor Stephen Dorff made his film debut in 1987 with The Gate, a Canadian horror film about a demonic apocalypse starting in suburbia. Two white kids dig a hole in the backyard that turns out to be a gateway to a demon realm. Wackiness ensues. It’s an uneven film, but worth watching today for the fun and creative use of old-school film techniques to achieve some clever scenes.
The sequel to 1982s horror anthology Creepshow, the film takes its inspiration from Stephen King stories just like the first, but loses George Romero as director. Creepshow 2 isn’t highly regarded like the original, but the quirky short horror stories here have aged a little better, particularly “The Raft” and “The Hitchhiker.”
The Monster Squad
“Scary German guy is bitchin’!”
After the success of The Goonies, studios worked to recapture that magic. The result was a series of “kid adventures” including this little 1987 oddball called The Monster Squad. A group of nerdy friends, all into horror comics, call themselves “The Monster Squad.” The squad gets wrapped up in a plot by the resurrected classic Universal monsters. The kids, along with the help of Frankenstein, must defeat Dracula who has his own squad that includes The Mummy, Creature From The Black Lagoon, and The Wolf Man.
The Hidden
“A flame-thrower man, can you believe it?”
Sometimes I think the title of this film refers to the film itself. The Hidden is an 80s sci-fi-action-horror movie which gets little attention. It’s a gem, though, revolving around an alien serial killer with the ability to swap bodies and the law enforcers on E.T.’s trail. The Hidden is a weird buddy cop movie with a sci-fi twist, a lot of action, and a dash of horror.
Bad Taste
“Suck my spinning steel, sh*thead!”
In 1987, Peter Jackson made his feature film directorial debut with the low-budget Bad Taste. A strange, quirky horror film in which Jackson and his friends do everything. Jackson’s credits include writer, director, producer, co-editor, makeup artist, and co-star. All the signature elements of Jackson’s style are in their infantile stages here, and it’s so fun to watch.
I know I missed a few because I had to leave some stuff off of the list or I’d be writing forever. What’s your favorite horror film from 1987?
Jack Nicholson has officially retired from acting after 60 years in the business. Sure, one reaction might be “yeah didn’t he kind of already retire?” Well, now it’s official, and we won’t be seeing anything else from one of Hollywood’s greatest, most unconventional leading men. Nicholson’s career has had some fascinating ups and downs, but no matter how his films may have failed, he always had another hit just around the corner. One of his underrated talents as an actor was his ability to reinvent himself for his audience.
Here are the 10 greatest Jack Nicholson roles, from this humble writer (with a shoutout to Wolf, a ridiculous movie that will always hold a special place in my heart for it’s campy brilliance):
If Easy Rider was Jack Nicholson’s coming out party, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, his first of three Oscar-winning roles, was an announcement that Jack was going to be here for a while. And causing a ruckus in Hollywood. His McMurphy is the audience’s anti-establishment inroad to a story about an oppressive, evil nurse keeping the nuts in the nuthouse under her thumb. His performance is all fire and energy and electricity from start to finish, all the way to the tragic final moments when a lobotomy lets us know the system always wins in the end.
Billy and Tommy are left powerless and trapped in a strange new world. Jason and the rest of the team must do all they can to track down their missing friends and bring Zordon back.
Writing
One of the best aspects of this series is how it tries to ground the Power Rangers in a mature story, which couldn’t have been done in the original show. In this issue, Billy and Tommy’s parents, realizing their children didn’t come home last night decide to call the police and file missing person reports. This is just in the first two pages and already the reader is gripped by what is happening, because the pair won’t simply be able to get out of this with a “got caught up in a school project” excuse. Actions have consequences and it makes reading every issue so very entertaining.
From there, the book focuses on the hellscape world Tommy and Billy are now stuck in. Without giving away too much spoilers, evil has won and the world is now under Rita’s control. Also, the mysterious villain of the previous issue is named. He is called Lord Drakkon and the Rangers of this world did everything they could to stop his rise to power. It’s starting to look like this storyline will help serve to introduce a different way for the series to introduce the Thunderzords. The issue offers little action but the atmosphere is so gripping it definitely makes makes up for it.
Artwork
The art team of Hendry Prasetya and Matt Herms really go all out in this issue. They put a lot of gritty and dark but realistic look into this new world. There a lot of great panels which really help to captivate the reader, especially when the pair find the Command Center. It will leave many fans filled with shock and awe.
Conclusion
Even with little action, this issue is a page turner. Watching Tommy and Billy explore a chaos filled world in search of answers was incredible. This series continues to deliver the best possible stories with these characters. Everyone needs to stop what they are doing and read this issue.
